Raising the Bar for High School Friends Since 1992

Imagine a full band emerging from the same high school and becoming one of the biggest bands in the country.

That is exactly what happened in Henry County, a suburb of Atlanta, in the early 90’s.

Stockbridge, at the time, was a small southern town roughly twenty minutes from Atlanta.

photos by Tony Contini

Brothers Ed and Dean Roland, Shane Evans, Will Turpin and Josh Childress grew up together in the tiny town.

The Roland boys’ father was the church pastor and led the choir. Turpin’s father opened a small recording studio in1976 named Reel to Reel, where Ed Roland also happened to be the head engineer.

Original drummer Shane Evans, guitarist Ross Childress and bassist Turpin were already playing together in a band when, shortly after high school, Ed Roland released an independent demo which included the smash “Shine”.

The band was quickly assembled -and the hits started.

Shine, Breathe, Gel, December, Smashing Young Man, The World I know, Where the River Flows, Precious Declaration, Listen, Blame, She Said and Heavy would all chart before the end of the decade.

The fuzzy guitars and raw production seemed to encapsulate the sound of the 90’s, all the while the band remained somewhat anonymous.

photos by Tony Contini

Now touring in support of their 25th anniversary and 10th studio album “Blood”, Collective Soul performs this Friday night at the Bell Auditorium.

The three core members, Ed and Dean Roland and bassist Ed Turpin, are joined by Johnny Rabb on drums and Jesse Triplet on lead guitar.